Best answer by Ryan S
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SONOS ALEXA Integration?
Userlevel 3
Been waiting to hear news about when this will happen and am starting to think it never will. I have Sonos and Alexa in every room. I did this with the assurance that Sonos and Alexa are going to work together. There has been next to no news regarding integration for the past 6 months.... When can we expect to hear about Sonos and Alexa integration? Is it still happening? Please any update would be appreciated.
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Userlevel 7
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:8 Thank you for that intelligent and vital addition to this thread.
Less is more.
The irony here is that the Echo can't recognise the Sonos mesh and so I have to use a mobile hotspot device for Alexa to work. I just hope the integration Sonos has in mind will allow it to connect directly to their own mesh network which is fundamental to my internet access (albeit it's probably an unusual setup).
You could probably just plug a Wifi A/P or an old router to the ETH port of your play 5 to extend the (non-mesh) wifi network from your satellite broadband directly to your Echo.
Hmm. I can see the sense, especially as the Play 5 is the most centrally located Sonos kit, whereas the satellite cable comes in via a remote corner, feeding into their passive (no wi-fi) modem/router thingy. I guess i had just been used to the mesh getting wi-fi to all other parts of the house without resorting to a conventional wi-fi router and several repeaters.
There must be other users who distribute wi-fi via Sonos hardware, so it would be nice if it were visible to Echo and especially the Alexa app on an device already getting wi-fi from the Sonos hotspot.
Yeah...
I'd bet this isn't anything to do with a technical or development issue (it's not that complicated). SONOS is trying to figure out how not to be commoditized by Alexa, Apple, Google, etc. Once they hand over the actual controls to Alexa, they are just speakers/amps.
I really want this feature, and I love my SONOS system, but I think they're dragging their feet while they figure this out (or negotiate).
I'd bet this isn't anything to do with a technical or development issue (it's not that complicated). SONOS is trying to figure out how not to be commoditized by Alexa, Apple, Google, etc. Once they hand over the actual controls to Alexa, they are just speakers/amps.
I really want this feature, and I love my SONOS system, but I think they're dragging their feet while they figure this out (or negotiate).
Userlevel 7
+22
I'd bet this isn't anything to do with a technical or development issue (it's not that complicated).
Yeah... I'd bet you know this because you are a technician with many, many years of experience in multi-room audio engineering.
Yeah, and creating the world's first multi-room audio solution controlled by voice is easy!
The complexity comes in the grouping and ungrouping, moving music from one room to another, the access of music services on the Sonos device, not on Echo, etc. Also, Sonos has stated this is not going to be an "Alexa, tell Sonos to . . ." type skill. Rather, it is a full integration between the two, with Sonos effectively becoming the music center of the home, and Alexa only a controller. All Alexa's audio controls are for playing her own music, and aside from the rudimentary external audio controls (stop, pause, skip, etc.) announced for a few pieces of 3rd party hardware, Alexa does not have near the capabilities needed for full Sonos multi-room control. They had to be developed from scratch.
It's about time. This honestly made me rethink purchases while I could have added Sonos speakers in more rooms.
http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/sonos-alexa-beta-test-1202423809/
http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/sonos-alexa-beta-test-1202423809/
for those who cant wait, may i suggest looking into Emby? there is a Alexa plug in that works well for playing your local music over all of your Sonos zones
Just use Yonomi - it's epic and works brilliantly with Sonos / Alexa. Been using it for an hour and can turn on and off rooms, play the radio station of my choice and Spotify playlists etc all with my voice. It really is amazing and easy to set up. "Alexa, turn on Radio 2 in dining room "..... sorted!!:D
Check out https://yonomi.co/supported-devices/
I can now control all my sonos rooms, selecting playlists and radio stations, turning up/down/on/off - all with Alexa. Seemless.
You may mean "seamless". Just guessing, of course.
Thankyou for that correction. It means a lot to me, and has added to everyone's understanding. I shall endeavour to be more careful in the future. Many thanks.
Hey Smija, Stuart_W, jgatie,
I agree that full management of every aspect of SONOS isn't trivial, but I don't see why you'd want to do all of that via Alexa.
I already use Alexa with Spotify -- what's so complicated about doing the same and just adding the room name?
https://www.spotify.com/us/amazonalexa
Alex, play The Beatles in The Kitchen.
RB
I agree that full management of every aspect of SONOS isn't trivial, but I don't see why you'd want to do all of that via Alexa.
I already use Alexa with Spotify -- what's so complicated about doing the same and just adding the room name?
https://www.spotify.com/us/amazonalexa
Alex, play The Beatles in The Kitchen.
RB
I agree that full management of every aspect of SONOS isn't trivial, but I don't see why you'd want to do all of that via Alexa.
I already use Alexa with Spotify -- what's so complicated about doing the same and just adding the room name?
https://www.spotify.com/us/amazonalexa
Alex, play The Beatles in The Kitchen.
RB
Because that functionality doesn't exist yet, that's why. Whatever you can currently do for an Echo to play means nothing to a 3rd party device's API. Do you think going from playing on itself, to controlling many 3rd party devices from a single Echo is trivial? It's like the difference between two tin cans and a string, and a telephone switchboard., or playing a solo instrument and conducting an orchestra.
I "ECHO" your sentiments!!!!
Sonos is notorious with their inability to follow through with their promises and to give what their consumers want, or need. I have 12 Sonos speakers and six echoes split between two houses. We have been requesting an outdoor Sonos speaker for over seven years. (Que the Sonos crickets) Chromecast is looking better and better as a more practical option for my next home.
I "ECHO" your sentiments!!!!
Sonos is notorious with their inability to follow through with their promises and to give what their consumers want, or need. I have 12 Sonos speakers and six echoes split between two houses. We have been requesting an outdoor Sonos speaker for over seven years. (Que the Sonos crickets) Chromecast is looking better and better as a more practical option for my next home.
Could you name one promise Sonos has made to consumers and failed to follow through?
And just because I like talking about it, all of these questions need to be decided by both Sonos and Amazon management, who like don't agree on all the questions. So you have negotiations and use of leverage everywhere.
Should an Echo be assigned to a particular Sonos Room, something which does not exist in the Echo ecosystem now?
And this is an even bigger question than you think. Because if you can tie a sonos zone to a particular issues, the question suddenly applies to other smart stuff in your home. They've open up a new box of issues. If you don't have to say 'in the kitchen' for a speaker, why do I have to say 'kitchen light' and not just 'light'? Perhaps Amazon sees the desire to move in that direction for all things, but isn't ready at this time. Therefore the design for Sonos has to be flexible so that it can adapt to that functionality when the time comes.
Should an Echo be assigned to a particular Sonos Room, something which does not exist in the Echo ecosystem now?
And this is an even bigger question than you think. Because if you can tie a sonos zone to a particular issues, the question suddenly applies to other smart stuff in your home. They've open up a new box of issues. If you don't have to say 'in the kitchen' for a speaker, why do I have to say 'kitchen light' and not just 'light'? Perhaps Amazon sees the desire to move in that direction for all things, but isn't ready at this time. Therefore the design for Sonos has to be flexible so that it can adapt to that functionality when the time comes.
I don't know but based on the way Alexa handles smart home devices I would speculate that there will not be any assignment of a given echo to a particular Sonos speaker. Room names, speaker names, and Echo names are likely to remain simple labels as far as the logic goes. Any Echo will be able to operate any Sonos speaker by name and will not know or care if it is in the same room or not.
I am curious to see how this will apply to grouped speakers. I'm guessing a command to any speaker in the group will apply to the whole group unless it is a volume command? Or maybe the integration will allow defined groups with unique names so a group volume command can be distinguished from an individual speaker volume command?
I am curious to see how this will apply to grouped speakers. I'm guessing a command to any speaker in the group will apply to the whole group unless it is a volume command? Or maybe the integration will allow defined groups with unique names so a group volume command can be distinguished from an individual speaker volume command?
Agreed. That does mean that echo can't mute or pause sonos when it's listen for a command, since it doesn't know which speaker to pause. And, this little detail would likely go over very well with Echo's customers. I personally have 5 echos and about 20 or so smart lights. It would be darn nice if Echo had some location awareness. This also would be a big plus to their calling/intercom feature. If I want to speak to my daughter on the echo in her room, I don't want my son picking it up in his room.
I am curious to see how this will apply to grouped speakers. I'm guessing a command to any speaker in the group will apply to the whole group unless it is a volume command? Or maybe the integration will allow defined groups with unique names so a group volume command can be distinguished from an individual speaker volume command?
I would guess, yes to the first and no to the 2nd. Although there should be an option to turn down the volume of the whole group as well.
I can say "Alexa, turn off hallway" and the Hue lights in the group Hallway will turn off. So I could see a similar functionally for Sonos being "Alexa, pause livingroom" to pause whatever is playing on the Sonos devices I've grouped together as Livingroom.
A lot of people don't realize what they are doing and as a result why it is taking so long... Sonos and Amazon are defining a new way to connect speakers to players. Instead of the player going direct to the speakers via cable, bluetooth, or wireless, they are now adding it at the OS level to communicate with all available speakers allowing us to be able to switch locations seamlessly for all apps on its platform, making it easier for all to play on Sonos by making it a platform feature instead of something app devs have to build themselves.
Short version: When this is done, all Alexa and Google home apps will be able to play to Sonos. No more selecting music sources off a list of 5.
That said, CAN WE PLEASE HURRY?! And how can I get on the beta? I just equipped my entire house thinking it was done, and not in beta still.... whoops...
Short version: When this is done, all Alexa and Google home apps will be able to play to Sonos. No more selecting music sources off a list of 5.
That said, CAN WE PLEASE HURRY?! And how can I get on the beta? I just equipped my entire house thinking it was done, and not in beta still.... whoops...
Agreed. That does mean that echo can't mute or pause sonos when it's listen for a command, since it doesn't know which speaker to pause. And, this little detail would likely go over very well with Echo's customers. I personally have 5 echos and about 20 or so smart lights. It would be darn nice if Echo had some location awareness. This also would be a big plus to their calling/intercom feature. If I want to speak to my daughter on the echo in her room, I don't want my son picking it up in his room.
I would think mute and pause would work in conjunction with the Sonos speaker name... "Alexa, Mute Kitchen" etc.
You can call directly to a specific room using an Echo... "Alexa, call the Living Room" etc. Not sure what more you are looking for there. I assume you will need your Echo names to be unique from your Sonos names when the integration is released.
Perhaps we are getting carried away with the Alexa buzz, and we should, they have their adverts coming on aggressively everywhere. From most of the posts I have read here, I suspect it might just be more beneficial for SONOS to build in their own voice recognition system on top of their existing development framework. Easier to scale and richer functionalities for us users in the long term. As many have pointed out, integration with ECHO will require decision to be made by both managements. This in itself may take longer to conclude than the actual integration work itself. If I were SONOS, I will prefer to exercise some patience in order to have autonomy in design and implementation and support, ensuring an ECHO integration to cater for SONOS customers that wish to buy ECHO for other uses that are not music based, such as calling and messaging. In my view, this is likely to deliver a tightly integrated voice recognition system unto SONOS for optimum quality of service and better user friendliness.
[quote=yemiad1]Perhaps we are getting carried away with the Alexa buzz, and we should, they have their adverts coming on aggressively everywhere. From most of the posts I have read here, I suspect it might just be more beneficial for SONOS to build in their own voice recognition system...
Well yes there is a lot of buzz around Alexa just like there was a lot of buzz around the IPhone and other Apple products when they were the first with the most in any given product category. Echo has around 70% of the market for voice-controlled speakers. Yeah, that share may go down with the relatively recent introduction of products by Apple and Google but for at least the next couple of years Alexa is the market. The Alexa buzz should be a key market driver for Sonos and I'm sure it is, but they don't seem to see any need to keep their customer base updated on progress with integration and updating us on the ETA for it. Could it be that arrival in 2017 is slipping into 2018? It doesn't indicate respect for their customers; have they reincarnated Steve Jobs or just his attitude towards the people who keep them in business?
Well yes there is a lot of buzz around Alexa just like there was a lot of buzz around the IPhone and other Apple products when they were the first with the most in any given product category. Echo has around 70% of the market for voice-controlled speakers. Yeah, that share may go down with the relatively recent introduction of products by Apple and Google but for at least the next couple of years Alexa is the market. The Alexa buzz should be a key market driver for Sonos and I'm sure it is, but they don't seem to see any need to keep their customer base updated on progress with integration and updating us on the ETA for it. Could it be that arrival in 2017 is slipping into 2018? It doesn't indicate respect for their customers; have they reincarnated Steve Jobs or just his attitude towards the people who keep them in business?
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